Controlling mechanism for flushing systems.



H. Bo'unslER. CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR FLUSHING SYSTEMS.

AAPPLICATION FILED MAY IE. I9I8.

'I 4&1 A l as ca. rnamurno.. wuvmcnm. a n

HENRIETTE BoUnsInn, or new YORK, n. Y.

CONTROLLING MECHANIIVI FOR FLUSI-IING SYSTEMS.

nasaos.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ct. 29, 1918.

Application filed May 16, 1918. Serial No. 234,897.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, Hnnnmr'rn BoUnsmn, citizen of the Republic ofFrance, residing in the city of New York, county andState of' New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controlling Mechanism for Flushing Systems, of which the :tollowing is a specification.

This invention relates'to flushing systems; and it proposes, briefly, anapparatus ofthe general class or character specified having an improvedcontrolling system for the water supply by means of which a llushingaction is obtained immediately upon the operation of the controllinglever or its equivalent, the parts associated with said lever beingarranged within a tank which, instead of normally containing water, isnormally empty, but is filled almost as soon as the'lever is actuated,the water in the tank controlling the position of' a float which, inturn, serves to closethe water inlet or` supply valve previously openedconsequent upon the operation of the lever.

The invention resides more particularly in Vthe construction andarrangement of' the parts or devices above indicated; but it is to beunderstood, of course, that no limitation to the precise structuraldetails of said parts, as disclosed in the accompanying drawing, iscontemplated, excepting as imposedby the Y terms of the claims appendedhereto, since modications and changes may Vwell be made within the scopeof saidclaims, and various parts maybe used without others and in otherand different environments.

In said drawing: Y

Figure 1 is a sectional perspective view of' one form which theinvention may take in practice, and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation .ofa modification.

The tank element of the system is doublewalled, and, as shown inthedrawing, coinprises outer and inner members 1 and 2 spaced from eachother at all points to provide an intermediate chamber of the same'shape as the tank members themselves, the latter, in the presentinstance, being opentopped. This chamber is utilized for overflowpurposes to convey the water to the flushing pipe 11 that leads to thebowl (not shown) and opens through the bottom wall of the outer member1, the excess water passing into said chamber through a series ofopenings 12 formed in the upper portions of the walls of the innermember 2, according to the construction represented in Fig. 1, and

over the upper edges of said walls in the form depicted in Fig. 2. Waterisdelivered to the pipe 11 for liushing purposes, and, incidentally, tothe tank, by means of an inverted U-shaped pipe 3, one branch of whichleads upwardly through the bottoms of' the tank members 1 and 2, whilethe other or downwardly-extending branch opens at its free end throughthe bottom of the inner' member 2 at a point directly above the openupper end of the flushing pipe, this being true of both forms of theinvention. The first-mentioned or ascending branch of the supply pipe isprovided with an internal valve seat Ll, in the form shown in Fig. 1,with which a valve 5 coperates, the latter' being secured to the lowerend of a vertical rod 6 which extends axially through said branch andprojects through an opening 8 in the top thereof. rl`he valve isnormally held in closed position against its seat 4: by the pressure ofthe water against its under face, and is opened by depressing a. lever24 to which the upper end of rod 6 is fastened, one end'of the leverbeing pivoted in a bracket 23 mounted on the top of the tank, while itsother end is equipped with a handle 25. The horizontal or connectingportion of the U-shaped supply pipe is formed in its under side with arelatively large opening 9, and the bottom of the inner tank member 2 isprovided with an opening 13 of about half the size of the said pipeopening, the opening 13 serving as an outlet Jfor the water in the tankand the opening 9 as an inlet or filling opening therefor. Hence, whenthe lever 24 is operated it will immediately lower the valve 5 from itsseat and permit water to rush through the supply pipe and intotheflushing pipe 11, the apparatus as a whole being primarily designed foruse in connection with highpressure water service, such as is generallyfound in large cities at the present time. A portion of the waterflowing through the latter pipe will, however, pass out through theopening 9 into the tank, and, by reason of the difference in size of theopenings 9 and 13, will commence to fill the tank. The pipe 3 has arelatively-large diameter, as ccmpared with the tank, which latter, aswill be seen from the drawing, is comparatively small, and the opening 9is likewise relatively large, as has already been stated.

When the tank is filled the water will hold the float 19 in the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 1, the float being suitably connected to therod 6 so as to hold the valve 5 open, thus permitting the release of thepressure on the handle 25. The float is in the form of a rectangular boXor body and its function is to automatically close the valve 5 when thefilling operation has continued for a certain period andwhile the `tankis still full, thereby shutting off further supply of the water. Thetank thereupon empties through the opening 13, the water passing throughthe bottom portion of the intermediate chamber above referred to andthence into the flushing pipe. The float is carried 'by a rod 16 pivotedto the upstanding arm 15 of an annular bracket 14- suitably fastened tothe ascending branch of the supply pipe 3. The portion of the float rodor lever between the float and the bracket arm 15 includes a ring member17, which encircles the descending branch of the supply pipe and is ofsullicient diameter to permit the movements of the float, Vwhile thefree end of thc said rod extends through a vertical slot 1S in theascending b anch and is loosely engaged in an elongated eye 7 with whichthe valve rod 6 is centrally provided, so that the depression of thevalve rod will raise the float from its normal position, shown in dottedlines, to its elevated or full line position. The float is designed tobe filled with water, after having been raised into the latter position,and, when filled will sink back to its lower or normal position, duringwhich movement it will raise the valve rod and automatically close thcvalve. To permit the entrance of the water into the float, an opening 20is formed in said float adjacent its bottom, the air being forced out bythe incoming water through a plurality of openings 21 in the top of thefloat which may be covered or uncovered at will byVv a slide 22 inordcrto regulate the speed at which the float fills, thus regulating thetime during which the valve 5 is held open by the float.

The operation, briefly described, is as follows z--Depression of thelever 24 lowers the valve rod 6, thus raising the float 19 and openingthe valve 5, with the result that water flows through the supply pipe 3and into the flushing pipe 11, a portion of the water entering the tankby way of the opening 9. Then the tank is filled to the point where thewater enters the float, which takes place almost innnediately, due tothe small size of the tank, as con'iinired with the diameter of thesupply .pipe and its opening 9, and to the pressure of the water, thesaid float gradually descends, raising up the valve rod and closing thevalve. The tank empties into the flushing pipe through the opening 13,the float itself emptying through the opening 20.

The modification represented in F ig. 2 diers from the first form onlyin certain details. Thus, the operating device is constituted by astraight, vertical rod 30, the lower end of which is Vloosely connectedto a lever 31 that serves both to open the inlet valve 32.and to raisethe float 33.V rlhe parts 32 and 33 are substantially identical with thecorresponding parts 5 and 19, excepting that the valve cooperates with aseat 34 which is formed in a partition 35 provided in an enlargement 36ofthe central or horizontal portionof the supply pipe 3, and that thefloat is supported upon a ring 37 that encircles the aforesaid pipeportion. r1`he lever 31, in addition to the ring 37, includes a secondring 38, which encircles the descending branch of the supply pipe,-inthis case, the Vrighthand branch-and is pivoted upon the lower end of abracket 39l suspended `from the connectingportion of the pipe, the valve32 being attached to the upper end of a vertical rod or stem 40, thelower end of which has fixed to it a second valve 41 that cooperateswith a seat 42 formed in the bottom of theinner tank member 2. Thisvalve 41 takes the place of' the opening 13 in the first form of theinvention, and is normally held in open position due to the fact thatthe upper valve 32 is normally kept closed, both by the pressure of thewater in the inlet or ascending side of the supply pipe and by theWeight ofl the float, which is also the case in the first form, thecentral portion of the valve rod having an eye 43, or equivalentthereof, with which the adjacent portion of the lever is engaged. Thesupply opening 44 for the tank is lo cated at the intersection of thedescending and connecting portions of the supply pipe, f

instead of in the latter portion. The waterV and air openings in thefloat are indicated at 45 and 46, and the controlling device for thesaid air openings at'47.'

The operation, as will be understood, is the same as inl the first form,excepting that the depression of the rod 30 serves to' close thetank-emptying valve 41 at the same time that the supply or inlet valve32 is opened and the float raised. `The parts remain in this positionuntil the float fills and `commences to descend, whereupon the inletvalve closes and the drain valve opens.

I claim as my invention 1'. The combination, with a relatively small,normally-empty tank, a relatively large inverted- U-shaped water supplypipe, and a flushing pipe disposed in proximity to the discharge branchof the supply pipe to receive water directly therefrom; of controllingmechanism for the water supply7 comprising, a normally-closed inletvalve in said supply pipe, an operating device therefor, means in saidsupply pipefor filling said tank when said valve is open, and a floatconnected with 4said valve, said float being maintained in raisedposition bythe trolling mechanism for the Water supply comprising anormally-closed inlet valve in said supply pipe, a valve rod connectedthereto, an operating device for said valve rod..

means in said supply pipe for filling said tank When said valve is open,and afloat con'- nected to said valve rod, said iioat being maintainedin raised position by the incoming Water, and thereafter sinking andautomatically closing said valve While the tank is still full, to shutoff further passage of water through the suppy pipe.

3. The combination, with a normallyempty tank, Water supply means, and aflushing pipe with which the supply means communicates; of controllingmechanism for the water supply comprising a normally-closed inlet valvein the supply means; an operating device for opening said valve to lillthe tank, a float connected with said valve and having a port for theentrance and exit of Water to and from it, said float being held inraised position by the Water in the tank when the latter is filled topermit the pressure on said operating device to be relieved Whilemaintaining the valve open, and adapted to sink and automatically closesaid valve when the Water has iilled the float and While the tank isstill full, and a device for controlling the expulsion of air from saidoat to regulate its speed of lling.

t. The combination, with a normallyempty tank', Water supply means, anda flushing pipe With which the supply means coin-- mnnicates; ofcontrolling mechanism for the 'Water supply comprising a normally-closedinlet valve in the supply means, an operating device for opening saidvalve to fill the tank, a float connected With said valve and having aport for the entrance and exit of Water and a series of air outletports, said float being held in raised position by the Water in the tankwhen the latter is filled, to permit the pressure on said operatingdevice to be relieved While maintaining the valve open, and adapted tosink and automatically close said valve when the Water has filled saidfloat and While the tank is still full, and a device for variablyclosing said air outlet ports to control the expulsion of air from saidioat and thereby regulate its speed of filling.

5. The combination, With a relativelysmall, normally-empty tank, arelatively large, inverted U-shaped Water supply pipe, and a flushingpipe disposed in proximity to the discharge branch of the supply pipe toreceive Water directly therefrom; of controlling mechanism for the Watersupply comprising a normally-closed inlet valve in said supply pipe, afioat connected with said valve, means for opening said valve, and meansfor filling said tank when said valve is open, said float being held inraised position by the Water in the tank when the latter is iilled, andacting to automatically close said valve after having been maintained insuch position for a predetermined period and While the tank is stillfull, to prevent further passage of Water through the supply pipe.

6. The combination, with a relativelysmall, normally-emptyV tank, arelatively large inverted U-shaped Water supply pipe, and a iiushingpipe disposed in proximity to the discharge branch of the supply pipe toreceive Water directly therefrom; of controlling mechanism for the Watersupply comprising a normally-closed inlet valve in said supply pipe, anormally-lowered float connected with said valve operating meansconnected to simultaneously open said valve and raise said float, andmeans for filling said tank when said valve is open, said float beingmaintained in raised position by the Water in the tank When the latteris filled, and acting to automatically close said valve after havingbeen held in such position for a predetermined period and While the tankis still full, to prevent the further passage of Water through thesupply pipe.

7. The combination, With a relativelysmall, normally-empty tank, arelativelylarge inverted U-shaped Water supply pipe, and a flushing pipedisposed in proximity to the discharge branch of the supply pipe toreceive Water directly therefrom; of control- ,ling mechanism for theWater supply comprising a normally-closed inlet valve in said supplypipe, a depressible operating element, a member connected to be operatedby said element and to open said valve means in said supply pipe forfilling said tank When said valve is open, and a float connected to saidmember, said iioat being held in raised position by the Water in thetank when the latter is filled, and acting to automatically close saidvalve after having been maintained in such position for a predeterminedperiod and while the tank is still full, to prevent the further passageof Water through the supply 1 e. p gn testimony whereof I affix mysignature.

HENRIETTE BOURSIER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patente, Washington, D. C.

